I grafted this variety on my Castleton, 4-5 years ago. It just set a few fruit this year. I am not sure if I get the correct fruit though.
The color is more deep maroon instead of deep blue like Castleton. It is round with soft, maroon flesh. It is mildly sweet. The taste around the pit is bitter/astringent. Skin can be easily peeled off.
Do you think I have Blue Damson? If not, what it is?
My grandfathers damson didn’t have amber colored flesh also it was later in season too. I don’t think it’s a damson. Not sure what it is.
Those don’t look like Damson and a European Plum with red flesh is unusual.bb
Look like Methley Japanese plum.
@fullplate and @Bradybb, that’s what I think, too, that this is a missed labeled scion I got.
@Vincent_8B, does the skin of Methley peels off easily and the flesh near the seed tast3 bitter or astringent? I don’t have Methley so I don’t know.
I didn’t have much experience about Methley either. But your plum color so pretty like Methley.
Quite a few Japanese plums have shape and color like this one. Probably one of J plums.
Damson is hard as rocks right now in our relative zones, and not even tart- the word is bitter. Even at full ripeness, Damson is a tart plum usually only used for culinary purposes, although, if it’s the only plum you have it’s pretty good- by sometime in Sept.
Methely is pretty soft when its that ripe- when it gets that color it is usually pretty bland, has more zing a few days earlier, when the skin is not solid red or whatever. The timing suggests it’s Methely.
Thank you, everyone. At least I could say that I grafted a J plum on a Euro plum and have fruited them without any issues.
Yeah, so have I- twice. I thought that I’d grafted a Euro on a J but the Euro turned out to be a J so I still don’t know if the opposite works. The literature raises doubt on the latter- that is Euros to J.s even though it is counter-intuitive because J.s tend to be more vigorous.
I have not grafted a Euro on a J plum trees but have grafted a few J plums on a Euro without any issue including this “Methley”
Long ago Alan sent me Damson scion wood. Being my first grafts, they unfortunately did not take 
@mrsg47,
From what Alan described, I do not need the real Damson plum. I like eating fresh fruit. The imposter I have tasted fine.
While others have raved reviews of their Methley, mine were juicy but only mildly sweet. Nothing outstanding, unfortunately.
@ramv,
You just had a thread about Methley. Did mine looked and sounded like Methley to you. I am in a wet zone so my fruit usually taste diluted.
@mamuang it does resemble Methley.
Is it clingstone? Does it have a rich wine like flavor? Sweetness for Methley is average: around 16 Brix. The sweetest ones that are very ripe can be 20 Brix or higher.
I didn’t notice any bitterness around the pit.
Ramv,
This was the last one. I went out and picked it this morning. Came off easily, definitely was ripe. Tart skin but it was peeled off easily so I could peel off the sk8n to avoid its tartness. Cling stone. I ate it clean to the seed so around the seed was definitely bitter.
Don’t know if it tasted like wine (never had wine). Juicy, mildly sweet. Brix at 13 but we have had more rain than not. I included a pic of leaves.
My grandmother had Damson plum tree and the plums were used for Jam (the very best plum jam for a purple plum!). Or Plum dumplings. Oooh so good. They were not touted for fresh eating! I grew up with the ‘tangy’ taste of fabulous damson jam.
Bradley’s King of the Damsons is one of the few Damsons that is excellent for fresh eating. Enjoyed a few today.
Dan,
Good to know. My fear is how it will perform from your very hot, arid climate to our hot’ish (so far only 3-4 days of 90 F or more) but very humid climate. We also have a serious pest issue. Even with spray, PC, OFM and CM are quite relentless. Then, squirrels and more.
I’m pretty certain that IS a methely. They aren’t anything special here if you have a lot of plums to compare them to- their virtue is their earliness and dependable cropping.
I’ve already eaten 2 varieties I like better this season. Early-magic, which ripens a few days later and Ozark Premier. The OP had a couple early ripening fruit on it as they ripen over a fairly long period. Methely and EM are done.
